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Super Typhoon Malou (Hazel)
'Super Typhoon Malou '(also known as Typhoon Marce ''in the Philippines) is a catastrophic, deadly typhoon that devastated parts of Southeast and East Asia from mid-to-late October. Decimating parts of the Philippines, China, and Taiwan at Super Typhoon strength, it is considered the most intense and costliest typhoon in recorded history, beating Typhoon Haiyan in terms of destruction in the Philippines and Typhoon Tip in terms of strength and intensity. Malou's predecessor can be traced back to an area of disturbed weather 67 nautical miles west of Marshall Islands on October 7, of which formed into a tropical depression two days later. Moving west, the depression attained tropical storm status as observed by a reconaissance flight into the developing system, and was given the name "Malou." Shifting its track west-northwest, Malou intensified rapidly as it was upgraded to a Category 3 typhoon by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), with Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) following suit. As Malou moved over favorable conditions with the water reaching almost 32 degrees celsius in temperature and little to no wind shear at all, it intensified into a Category 4 within 8 hours, moving within the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR). On October 14, Typhoon Malou achieved Super Typhoon status as it moved closer to the Philippines. It shifted to a west-southwest track, directly threatening the Bicol Region. Super Typhoon Malou explosively intensified and attained Category 5 status with winds up to 145 knots (260 km/h; 160 mph) and a relatively low barometric pressure of up to as low as 895 millibars, matching Haiyan's barometric pressure as it made landfall in Tolosa, Leyte. Typhoon Malou made landfall on Capalonga, Camarines Norte at this intensity. Typhoon Malou, after emerging on Tayabas Bay, weakened to a Category 4 super typhoon and reverted to its westerly track. It made several more devastating landfalls throughout Luzon. Meteorological history A relatively organized area of disturbed weather was spotted west of the Marshall Islands on October 7 by the JTWC. It became a tropical disturbance the following day, as JMA followed suit. Within two hours, JTWC issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert as the system gradually consolidated. At the same time, the JMA had initiated warnings on the disturbance, 6 hours before the JTWC had followed suit. JTWC then designated the system as ''17W. The next day, ''17W ''has been upgraded into a tropical storm by both JMA and JTWC, attaining the name ''Malou. ''Since the storm is at the extreme southern periphery of a subtropical ridge, it kept Malou at a generally westward direction. Moist air and abundance of upper-level divergence aided in Malou's intensification, and it became a Category 3 typhoon within three days. As the subtropical ridge dissipated, Malou began to move north-northwest towards even more favorable conditions, it further intensified into a Category 4 within 8 hours, entering the Philippine Area of Responsibility in the process, attaining the name ''Marce. ''On October 14, Typhoon Marce attained super typhoon status, with unusually warm sea surface temperatures of 32 °C and a presence of a Tropical Upper Tropospheric Trough to the north. The typhoon's eye had become much more defined, and increased in size; the convection over its central dense overcast had drastically cooled, which made the JTWC upgrade Marce to a category 5 super typhoon in the next warning. With Malou's eye dramatically warming and its cooling central dense overcast, it had been upgraded to a "violent" typhoon by the JMA. Malou also became the strongest typhoon since Typhoon Haiyan of 2013 with 1-minute sustained winds of 140 knots (255 km/h; 160 mph) and a pressure of 885 hectopascals (mbar, 26.13 inHg). As a strong High-pressure area (HPA) above Malou developed, it turned sharply south and directly threatened Bicol Region in the Philippines. 36 hours until landfall, Daet, Camarines Norte and the rest of the Bicol Region, as well as the Calabarzon Region and most of Luzon and the Northern part of Visayas is already feeling the brunt of the storm. During the late night hours of October 16, typhoon Malou's outflow expanded and its eye had cleared out even more, prompting JTWC to increase sustained winds of 165 knots (305 km/h; 190 mph) which made Malou tied for the highest official sustained winds ever recorded. Malou's core had become extremely organized, and became sufficient enough for the storm to reach a Dvorak number of T8.0, which is the highest in the scale. In such a rare occurrence, a hurricane hunter aircraft departed from Guam to measure the wind speed and pressure of the typhoon. The assessment of the aircraft had Malou had recording winds of 180 knots (335 km/h; 205 mph) and a pressure as low as 864 hPa (mbar; 25.50 inHg). Malou has reached its peak intensity. Moving 5.2 knots (11 km/h; 6 mph) on a south-southwesterly direction, Malou moved ever so closer to Luzon, as winds started to pick up in different places in Southern Tagalog, specifically the Bicol Region. Just 12 hours later, on October 17, 812 PHT, Super Typhoon Malou (Marce) made landfall over Capalonga, Camarines Norte, with winds of up to 155 knots (290 km/h; 180 mph) and a pressure to as low as 882 hPa (mbar; 26.75 inHg), moving only slightly faster at 8.9 knots (15 km/h; 9.3 mph). Dozens of Philippine Cities all over Southern and Central Luzon are already starting to feel typhoon force winds of up to 180 km/h. Radar imagery by NOAA show a relatively large, clear eye over the municipality of General Luna, Quezon on 1034 UTC, before Malou emerges over the water at Tayabas Bay. Interaction with land and moderate wind shear further weakened Malou, causing its wind speeds to drop to 130 knots (241 km/h; 150 mph) and a pressure of 898 hPa (mbar; 26.52 inHg), as it made landfall on Baco Chico Island, Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro, on October 17, at 1914 PHT. After emering back at sea, Super Typhoon Malou drew in moist air as it gradually consolidated, prompting JTWC to upgrade it once again to a Category 5 super typhoon. At 2248 PHT, Typhoon Malou made another landfall over Isla Verde, Batangas City with winds of up to 145 knots (265.5 km/h; 165 mph) and a pressure as low as 891 hPa (mbar; 26.31 inHg). Moving within the boundaries of Batangas Bay, Super Typhoon Malou moved closer to its fourth Philippine landfall. On October 18 at 912 PHT, packing winds up to as fast as 150 knots (275 km/h; 170 mph), Super Typhoon Malou made landfall over Bauan, Batangas. Moving over Taal Lake, Typhoon Malou's eye began to fill with clouds. Wind speeds around the eye began to move slower, as Typhoon Malou's general circulation is disrupted by the surrounding land. At October 21, Typhoon Malou moved over the Sierra Madre mountain range as JTWC downgraded Typhoon Malou to a Category 2 typhoon. Moving over the Philippine Sea, Typhoon Malou quickly reintensified, becoming a Category 4 typhoon within six hours. The high pressure area that pushed Typhoon Malou sharply south now threw it west, aiming Typhoon Malou straight to Taiwan's east coast, as it moved over extremely favorable areas. Super Typhoon Malou was once again upgraded to a Category 5 super typhoon. Super Typhoon Malou aimed straight for Taitung City, Taiwan, with an intensity of 155 knots (290 km/h; 180 mph) and a pressure of 882 hPa (mbar; 26.75 inHg). Dry air started to disrupt the system, and a lack of Tropical Upper Tropopspheric Trough started to fill in the eye of Malou. On October 21, 1642 PHT, Super Typhoon Malou made landfall 18 kilometers south of Taitung, Taiwan, packing winds of up to 134 knots (249 km/h; 155 mph). Over the Central Mountain Range, Typhoon Malou quickly weakened and the pressure skyrocketed. This prompted JTWC to downgrade Malou to a Tropical Storm. Two days later, fairly favorable conditions prompted Malou to gradually consolidate once again, until Malou has been upgraded to a Category 3 typhoon as it made landfall in the Japanese Nagasaki Prefecture, before making two more landfalls in Japan, in the Aomori and Hokkaido Prefecture, respectively. Moving over cold waters and regions with dry air, Malou has finally been downgraded to a remnant low on October 28. Preperations TBA Impact Micronesia WIP Guam WIP Philippines Super Typhoon Malou made landfall over the Bicol Region on October 17. It caused extreme damage to the regions of Bicol, Southern Luzon, the National Capital Region, and various other regions over the islands of Luzon and Visayas, as well as a small portion of Mindanao. Malou devastated the provinces of Camarines Norte, Quezon, and Batangas worst. Taiwan WIP China WIP Japan WIP Aftermath WIP Records and retirement WIP Category:Super Typhoons Category:Hazel's Stuff